Without letting on to who my Secret Santa recipient is, let me ask this question in a general way...

What is one supposed to do when a Secret Santa recipient has only high-dollar items on their wishlist? I see that the guidelines are to stay within the $15-35 range, but my target has games that go for the following prices on Funagain (OOP, 46, 70, 60, 45, 28, 44, 46, 65, and 12). I guess I could just go with the 28, but with shipping there's little doubt that one will exceed the guideline. That leaves only the $12 item, which seems mighty puny as a gift.

For your situation, I would. Plus, it is even more difficult and thoughtful to research through someone's games, ratings, posts, reviews, ect to find something you may personally think they would like.

Or, if you want to send the $12 game with gaming accesories that would be understandible too. There was recently a geek list about ideas for the gamer who has everything. That may help you.

Go with what you can afford, and if it is the cheapest in the list then throw in something fun to bump it up a bit.

Speaking for myself I went way over budget, but then I am not a poor student or starting out on a career, so it is fine for me. I also made a point of telling my Santa to basically throw the wishlist out of the window if they so desire - if it isn't in my collection then I don't have it.

Be as flexible with this as you want to be and don't beat yourself up over it - it is meant to be fun.

Ditto. I don't count the cost of shipping when choosing a game. I lucked out this year and got a target in the same area as me but I would hate to send something really small and cheap due to postage costs.

People use their wishlists all year round, and if there are lots of high $ items on it then your victim probably does the same as me, using it as a way to track things to keep an eye on for private use. I'm fairly confident the victim would not expect Santa to come on at the top end.

If the wishlist isn't helpful, there's bound to be something you think would be a nice gift. I'm sure you know enough about games to pick something that the victim hasn't marked, but you know will go down a treat.

Their collection, comments, forum and geeklist postings should set you on the right path.

I hope my Santa is using her brains and ignore just about anything that is on my wishlist (I said as much in my comment to make that very clear) as there is an awful lot on that list that is either too hard to get, or way pricey. I just cannot be bothered to change the entire list for Santa only and then re-instate it on the 26th for my own use.

If someone has put some thought and effort into it, that's all I'm wishing for. Anything else is a bonus. $ value not high on my wishlist, a thoughtful gift much more appreciated.

I was under the impression that the $15-$35 guideline was for the price before shipping.

It sounds like your target could have given you some more options, but at least there is teh $28 one. But in general, people should be aware that these wish lists are not just for secret santa--people might use them to keep track of games they intend to buy for themselves or as gifts, or to refer family members to who are stumped on what to buy that game nut. I left special instructions with my Secret Santa to ignore the games on my list that were outside the recommended price range. But then I also added a bunch of stuff that was in the price range, so they would have something to choose from.

I'd do the $12 item, and then add something that you think they'd like.

Or, just flat out ask him to add some things to his wishlist.

Randy Cox wrote:

Without letting on to who my Secret Santa recipient is, let me ask this question in a general way...

What is one supposed to do when a Secret Santa recipient has only high-dollar items on their wishlist? I see that the guidelines are to stay within the $15-35 range, but my target has games that go for the following prices on Funagain (OOP, 46, 70, 60, 45, 28, 44, 46, 65, and 12). I guess I could just go with the 28, but with shipping there's little doubt that one will exceed the guideline. That leaves only the $12 item, which seems mighty puny as a gift.

I like to err on the side of giving too much. I want to surprise my target by giving a bigger game or more games than they would have expected. But I don't think anyone should feel obligated to take that approach.

I had to ignore the shipping cost. The cheapest game on my targets list was about 49.99 MSRP and shipping was well over $25 for the cheapest possible postage. It would have been rough finding a suitable $10 game to pull it off. I don't think the guidelines were meant to detract from the spirit of giving and what not. I think they were just that, guidelines.

My wishlist isn't a particularly easy one but I can say that if somebody looked at my collection and got me something not on my wishlist but that looked like something I would enjoy, I'd be fine with that. My point is, it's the spirit of this thing that matters so if you can't match their wishlist... well then... get them something thoughful that you can afford. If they complain, they suck.

During the great purge of December 2006 there were many BGG loyalists who stepped up to bolster the ranks of the admins in their struggle with the unruly rebels. It was during this fight that this new corps of admins truly earned their wings... or more accurately little orange and blue badges.

This is mt first year, and I researched and ordered for my target on the first day, I went for a fewer lower dollar games. And I diverged from thier list a bit. I thought it was too easy and was less personal and caring just to buy blindly off thier list. So I thought about his list and similar games that might be of interest. I didn't realize that the wish list was held up like gospel. so, hopefully I don't piss them off. But I think it was a good choice.

I think diverging from the wishlist is kind of iffy. For example, my wish list contains all the games I want, period. If it's not on my list, it's not really something I want. I guess it all depends on how much game research your recipient does.

I think diverging from the wishlist is kind of iffy. For example, my wish list contains all the games I want, period. If it's not on my list, it's not really something I want.

Of course THAT assumes that the targets list has been composed by similarly good research MY wishlist is indeed in the "everything I hope to have one day" dept...but as I discover new games, come across threads about others I have never heard of etc THEN I add them to the list. It is quite fair to assume that almost NO wishlist can EVER be truely complete. So I think in the spirit of SS it is quite fair to diverge from the wishlist if you can find an angle. While "a game" is in the guidelines...there is also the fun of trying to buy for a whole person...taking their bios, collection, comments etc into account. To just pick the first thing on the list you can afford seems to take a lot of the fun out for the Santa. And I am firmly of the mind that this fun is meant more for THEM than the "targets"

Merry Christmas all you beautiful Secret Santas...the only ones I still believe in

I had a friend who was in a similar situation. Yea, that's right a friend. It definitely wasn't me. Well anyway, this friend decided that the best thing to do was to order a game from store in his person's country so that shipping would be cheaper and wouldn't have to cross borders, etc. My friend had hoped to spend more on a generous gift, but the bills are piling high.

Back in the days when there were less maps we played every map back to back

Ooh a little higher, now a bit to the left, a little more, a little more, just a bit more. Oooh yes, that's the spot!

chaddyboy_2000 wrote:

Quote:

Also... when did chaddyboy become an administrator?!

While nobody was looking.

I assumed it was when we were blinded by the light shining off the Golden Meeple.

I took $15-$35 to be a range that excluded shipping. Another assumption that it was US$.

I also agree that you should not diverge off the wishlist. If their wishlist has nothing applicable, arrange through a third party to PM them asking them the clarify or expand their wishlist temporarily for Secret Santa purposes.

My wishlist is an all year round thing with extra things added for Secret Santa. I don't expect my Secret Santa to get me Cosmic Encounter Expansion #9 or the Civilization Western Expansion Map, however I will a) not complain if they do, and more importantly b) not be removing them just for Secret Santa. I have plenty of other stuff on the list for Secret Santa purposes.

I too figured the price guideline was for pre shipping, however with a target overseas its going to cost me 30$ just for shipping. on top of that my target had games that were all 30+. I ended up picking a game i thought they may like so I ended up with a 20$ game and 25$ shipping. HOpefully I got a US santa to make up for my extra cost :-)